The Chesterton Street Department is discontinuing the collection of brush from the alleys in Chesterton, according to a Facebook post from the Town of Chesterton.
Street Commissioner John Schnadenberg spoke about the topic at the Town Council’s meeting on Monday.
“We’re spending a lot of time in the alleys,” he said. “We have a grapple truck and with the power lines and the other utility lines, we’re having to physically move the piles in order to reach them and get to them. So we’re going to ask each resident to put their brush out in front now to make it more efficient and safer.”
“We’ve had some close calls with electric lines and it’s just too difficult in the alleys,” Schnadenberg emphasized. “We tried to make it convenient but we think this is going to be the best thing moving forward.”
The Town of Chesterton stated the following on their Facebook page:
Effective immediately, residents who call for brush pickup in an alley will be asked to put it at curbside instead. Schnadenberg understands that the new policy is likely to generate some blowback. He understands too that it’s likely to take residents a week or two to get up to speed on it. But the electric lines pose too great a danger not only to municipal employees and apparatus but to private property as well, Schnadenberg said.